Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America | March 29 2009 A riveting tale about the world of low class workers‚ Ehrenreich puts into words what most are don’t acknowledge or are afraid to acknowledge. Through first-hand experience‚ Ehrenreich successfully navigates her way through the low wage work by working such common low wage jobs as waitressing‚ housecleaning‚ and sales. While along the way discovering that each job encompasses their own organizational structure‚ culture‚ and
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Daniel Manoni Lisa Aurello Composition ENG H101 11 November 2009 Nickel and Dimed Essay In Nickel and Dimed‚ Barbara Ehrenreich delves into the `third world’ of America while attempting to make a living. She undertakes many noble trades‚ working in low wage and underappreciated jobs while trying to figure out how the people of this country do it every day. She works at Hearthside and Jerry’s in Florida waitressing‚ with The Maids in Maine cleaning houses‚ and with Wal-Mart in Minnesota‚ serving
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Nickel and Dimed In the book of Nickel and Dimed‚ the author Barbara Ehrenreich‚ decided to go undercover as a low wage worker. She wanted to find out how non-skilled workers made ends meet. Barbara’s goal was to find if she would be able to live off the money she earned‚ and by also having enough money to pay the monthly rent. This was not going to be an easy task for her; she was used to having a home‚ a companion‚ reputation‚ and of course an ATM card. In June 1998‚ Barbara left behind everything
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Hayley Selvage Mrs. Weiser AP English Per. 1 September 10‚ 2014 Nickel and Dimed Passage B Analysis In three short paragraphs of the novel‚ Nickel and Dimed‚ Barbara Ehrenreich emphasizes that the middle‚ to upper class is oblivious to the misery of the working class. The lack of disclosure between the working and upper-middle class makes the upper-middle class oblivious to the working class’s hard work effort. In the first paragraph of the passage‚ Ehrenreich conveys a tone of annoyance and
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NICKEL AND DIMED BOOK REPORT Barbara Ehrenreich is a journalist who wrote the book Nickel and Dimed. She goes undercover to see how it feels to work for $6 to $7 an hour. She leaves her regular life to explore the experiences of a minimum wage worker. Ehrenreich travels to Florida‚ Maine‚ and Minnesota‚ looking for jobs and places to live on a minimum wage salary. At one point in time‚ she had to work two jobs to makes ends meet. As she worked all these jobs‚ she discovered many problems in the
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Is America truly the land of endless opportunities? People from all over the world come to the US in high hopes of becoming rich with minimal efforts. Sadly‚ this is not the case. After reading Nickel and Dimed‚ by Barbara Ehrenreich‚ I have a new outlook on individuals struggling to get by on low wage paying jobs in America. Barbara travels to Florida‚ Maine‚ and Minnesota to "investigate" life as low wage worker. She plays a different role in each of these three states to experience the true life
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Introduction: Getting Ready Page 1: What is the significance of Lewis Lapham‚ other than the fact that he is the editor of Harper’s? Why was Barbara Ehrenreich so inspired by him and the lunch they shared together? Page 2: Is Ehrenreich wealthy‚ middle-class‚ or poor? If I was in Ehreneich’s shoes and was wealthy‚ I would be very curious to see how other people live. Page 3: The introduction to this book seems kind of ironic to me-while eating at an over-priced restaurant‚ Ehrenreich considers
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2. Were your perceptions of the blue collar Americans transformed or reinforced by nickel and dimmed? Have your notions of poverty and prosperity changed since reading the book? What about your own treatments of waiters‚ maids‚ salespeople? My perception of the blue collar Americans was transformed as a result of the book. Previously I had always felt that is someone wanted to find a job‚ they could. If a hard working American went out into the work force looking for a job that could support them
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1 SOC 310 12/03/12 Nickel and Dimed Book Analysis Looking at whether or not individuals living in poverty are considered to be a minority group by our contemporary culture is an interesting scenario. I’m a social work major so of course I want to think‚ yes‚ individuals living poverty are most definitely an oppressed group in society. Minimum wage is nowhere near to what could be classified as a living wage‚ and these positions often have little room for career advancement within the company
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In the book Nickel and Dimed on (Not) getting by in America‚ the author lived a life of a low wage worker. This experiment‚ while deemed insightful by some people‚ was considered dull and unrealistic to one of my classmates. In response to the question‚ “What parts of the book made Ehrenreich’s experience unrealistic?” my peer said‚ “She didn’t experience what low wage workers really went through. In Into the Wild‚ McCandless really went into the wild and experienced everything‚ but Ehrenreich didn’t
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